Division I Men

Tillman to Terps: 'Don't Fall into the Trap'

Maryland poured in 20 goals against Georgetown, but is wary
of a letdown against Duke, despite the Blue Devils' early-season
struggles.

On Saturday, the third-ranked Maryland men's lacrosse team spent
the final three quarters knocking Georgetown out of the rankings,
while knocking the stuffing out of their cross-town rivals. When
the carnage was over, Maryland's 20-8 thrashing became the biggest
blowout in the series since the schools started playing each other
regularly in 2003.

On Monday before practice, after the Terps (2-0) had digested a
most satisfying performance, members of their senior-laden team
started filing into the locker room, where they found a message
from first-year coach John Tillman.

Strewn about the floor were a bunch of un-set mousetraps.
Written on the chalkboard was the warning of the day: "Don't fall
into the trap."

It's hard to imagine Maryland taking Duke lightly when the
Atlantic Coast Conference combatants get busy in Durham on
Saturday. Never mind that Duke, which is struggling with youth and
an anemic offense, is trying to avoid its first, 1-3 start since
1985. Never mind that the Blue Devils, the defending national
champions, are coming off a 7-3 loss to Penn that marked the first
time Duke had been held to three goals since 1986.

Tillman, who replaced Dave Cottle after the 2010 season, was
leaving nothing to chance -- which is pretty much the way Tillman
has run things since he rolled out the balls for the first time in
College Park last fall.

"[Tillman] knows that we know how to play lacrosse. He harps on
doing the little things right. That's how he approached the fall
and how he has approached this season," said sophomore midfielder
Curtis Holmes, who torched the Hoyas by winning 20 of 31 faceoffs
and producing one goal and two assists.

"Our goal is to win a national championship. Coach Tillman is
more concerned with how are we going to win a national
championship? It's the little things. Not letting us scoop any
ground balls in practice with one hand. Making sure we touch every
line on sprints. The energy level around here is so high. The tone
is take it day-by-day, and we need to get better every day. We're
feeling good, but we have to control it."

There is much to like about what's going on at Maryland. Led by
the senior attack unit of Grant Catalino, Ryan Young and Travis
Reed, the Terps are pushing the tempo aggressively on offense, and
sharing and shooting the ball (48.6 percent) extremely well.
Twenty-nine of their 36 goals have been assisted.

The banged-up midfield rotation is getting healthier, as senior
Dan Burns hopes to return after missing the first two games. But
Joe Cummings, Drew Snider, Owen Blye and John Haus (team-high six
assists) have scored at least five points already, while Jake
Bernhardt continues to show impressive athleticism between the
boxes. Bernhardt could be a star waiting to emerge from a midfield
that has lacked star power since Maryland last went to the NCAA
tournament semifinals in 2006.

Defensively, redshirt freshman goalie Niko Amato is starting to
answer some questions behind his more proven unit. Half of Amato's
eight saves came early against Georgetown, which led 3-1, before
caving in to an avalanche of fast-break goals started by
Holmes.

Tillman, who earned a reputation as a strong recruiter and
offensive coach as an assistant at Navy before taking on a
rebuilding effort for three years as head coach at Harvard, has an
interesting managerial task at Maryland.

He wants to give the players, especially the 14-man senior
class, plenty of responsibility, but not too much room. He wants
the offense to flow with creative spontaneity, but not too far
outside the confines of his system. And he doesn't want his
players, who are desperate to win the school's first NCAA crown
since 1975, to think down the road past the next task.

"Stay hungry and stay humble. Don't break your arm patting
yourself on the back. You become vulnerable when you think you're
better than you are," Tillman said. "We've stuck our shots for two
games. We'll see what happens when we run into a terrific goalie,
or it's really cold and rainy. We'll see if the guys still buy into
making the extra pass."

Holmes said the Terps are determined not to fall into any trap
at Duke. The Blue Devils have averaged just five goals in their two
losses, and were shut out in the first half against Penn. With
talented players such as attackman Zach Howell and midfielder
Justin Turri roaming the field for Duke, Holmes said the Terps know
the deal that awaits them.

"[Duke] is still trying to figure out who they are as an
offense, but they are not dummies," Tillman added. "It seems like
they've been to the final four a million years in a row. You know
they are very athletic, and they're going to be very good. Our guys
got to celebrate Georgetown for a day, but those 20 goals mean
nothing now. This is going to be a test that tells us more about
who we are."